HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL

Some of you have emailed me about the status on my legs, so I'll do a group mailing to let you know.

First off, I envy any of you that can get up and down off of a chair, a toilet, the shower, in and out of the car, put your own pants and shoes on, reach foods in the cabinet, make your own meals and sit straight in front of the computer. It's the little things that are the hardest to do.

The Drs. split both knees open and reattached both quad muscles and some torn ligaments with a heavy cord and ran it through 3 holes that they drilled in each knee cap. IN my right leg I was told that they sucked out 200 cc's of old blood that had settled in there. Both knees were a success, but the right one needs a total 'knee replacement' made out of some sort of metal material. But it was too much to do a this time. There were some old injuries that they had fixed as well.

I stayed in the hospital from Friday and was able to escape Sunday morning. Those hospital beds will suck the life out of you, no kidding. So, I'm home, and got a walker and a nice wheel chair, plus all those accessories, like potty booster, shower seat, etc. that the 'old' people use. But, it comes in handy.

I'll be in knee immobilizers for 6 weeks and then they come off and I'll learn to walk all over again. But, in the meantime, I really think it's possible next week to get back in the gym and do pulley movements, and some machines either in the walker or chair. At least I'll try. That will really boost my morale and get me moving again.

thanks for your support. You have no idea how much you all mean to me.

Love,
Ric

Here's an update: It's 5 weeks since my surgery. I have been able

to work our my upper body everyday and even getting better results. I have had

no pain to speak of at all and can walk without the walker but take it for support

just in case I may fall. Still have the leg braces on one more week so stability

can be a problem. I get around fine and even started to drive though I'm

not supposed to. I know in 1 week when I start rehab, I'll be walking in no time and will be better than ever. I don't know why

I've had no pain as this is supposed to be very painful, but I have a very high threshold and it just doesn't register with me.

Guess I'm lucky. I'll be back in no time at this rate. So, remember think positive and you can accomplish anything.

Ric 'The Equalizer'Drasin

July 10, 2002 Update

Well I'm happy to say that I can leg press 450 lbs. 12 reps easy enough and I climbed 4 flights of stairs. Everyday gets easier and easier. I would have been farther ahead but a couple of months ago, got a STAPH infection in my right knee and it literally exploded with at least a quart of fluid. After having a drain in it for 6 weeks it finally went away but left those tendons pretty weak and sore. But I worked through it. I still have soreness intermittenly but I'm pushing through it. They want to give me a knee replacement this Fall, but we'll see what happens.

So, this just proves to me that you can work through anything and most important is the attitude. However the weight workouts really make a huge difference. Any of you guys who have ever been through this, you know that sitting around doesn't help. The only way to improve is to work those muscles and get them back in order. I figure about another 6 weeks and I should be pretty good and able to do stunts again.

RIC